Bahatdin Mirzayev

Mirzayev was born on 31 December 1914 in Sulut to a peasant family. He graduated from the eighth grade and a factory training school in Baku. He was drafted into the Red Army in 1936 and graduated from a course at the mountain artillery school in 1938. He was discharged from the Red Army in 1938.[1][2]

Mirzayev was redrafted into the Red Army in 1941. In 1942, he joined the Communist Party of the Soviet Union. He fought in combat with the 1054th Artillery Regiment of the 416th Rifle Division from November 1942. He was a platoon commander and later became a battery commander.[2] He fought in the battles of Mozdok, Stavropol, and Taganrog. He fought in the August 1943 Donbass Strategic Offensive, which involved the crossing of the Mius. In September and October, he fought in the capture of Melitopol, part of the Battle of the Dnieper. On 11 December he was awarded the Order of the Patriotic War 1st class. Mirzayev received the Order of the Red Star on 4 January. Between January and February 1944 Mirzayev fought in the Nikopol–Krivoi Rog Offensive. He then fought in the Odessa Offensive, in which the 416th helped capture Mykolaiv and Odessa.[1]

Mirzayev fought in the Second Jassy–Kishinev Offensive in the summer of 1944. In September the division was moved to the Magnuszew bridgehead on the Vistula. He fought in the Vistula-Oder Offensive, in which the division broke out from the bridgehead. On 14 January, during the breakthrough at Augustów, he corrected the battery's fire, enabling it to reportedly destroy seven German firing points and an infantry platoon. He was wounded, but remained on the battlefield. On 15 January, during the attack on Stromiec, the battery knocked out a tank and two self-propelled guns, enabling the advance of the infantry. On 16 January, during the battle for Białobrzegi, the battery reportedly destroyed two tanks and an armored personnel carrier, allowing the infantry to advance. On 24 March 1945 Mirzayev received the title Hero of the Soviet Union and the Order of Lenin.[1][3][2]

Mirzayev fought in the storming of Kustrin and the Battle of Berlin. On 29 April he was seriously wounded.[1]

After recovering from his wounds, Mirzayev was discharged. He lived in Baku and worked as head of the department of the militarized guard at the Azerbaijan SSR Ministry of Communications.[2] On 6 April 1985 he received a second Order of the Patriotic War 1st class on the 40th anniversary of the end of World War II.[4] Mirzayev died on 15 April 1987.[1]